“What Old Women Need to Stop Wearing”
I try not to be enticed by clickbait. But the title of this internet article lured me in.
Keeping up with the latest fashions isn’t important to me. But I also don’t want to dress terribly outdated.
What if I’m wearing something that is all wrong?
I clicked to see.
Outdated Wadrobes
We’re looking this month at Colossians 3, to see what it really means to live “renewed” lives.
Here’s Colossians 3:8-10.
- But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. (v8)
- Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices (v9)
- and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (v10)
We often see ourselves still dressed in our outdated wardrobe of verses 8-9.
We have clothes in our closet, and behaviors in our lifestyles, that:
- Are uncomfortable (anybody else feeling the extra 5 pounds since ‘Rona?)
- Are unflattering
- Are holey (and not the good kind of holy)
We don’t have to dress out of this closet. These clothes are ugly to ourselves and to others: bad tempers, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk, lying to one another.
They no longer fit us. We have permission to bag them up and get them out of the house.
Wardrobe Makeover
Instead, we can receive our wardrobe makeover.
We’ve been given a new closet to dress from. And the clothes fit our new selves perfectly, right now (Colossians 3:10).
- We don’t have to lose a few pounds before they’ll fit.
- We don’t have to wait for a special occasion to put them on.
- We don’t have to be good enough or skinny enough or perfect enough in our OWN abilities to wear them.
This wardrobe works because these new clothes are Christ Himself. And He’s already perfect.
We are renewed because of who Jesus is, not because of who we are.
In our new closet, we look in the mirror and see Jesus. We’re made over in His image (Colossians 3:10). Our new outfits spark joy (Marie Kondo would be proud).
Clothed in Christ
The internet article turned out to be unhelpful about telling me what not to wear. (No surprise there.) When I clicked through, the real title showed up as “Fashion and Beauty Trends that We Hope Never Come Back in Style.” It said to lose the beehive hairdo (never had one). Stop wearing tube tops (never did). Don’t keep an orange fake tan (no problem).
We don’t need the internet to tell us how to dress anyway.
We’ve been clothed in Christ and our inner self is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).
We’ve been given a wardrobe update. Let’s put it on and wear it well. It fits us perfectly.
How’s your closet these days? Share in the comments.
I love how you’ve compared putting on a beautiful outfit to putting on Jesus in our lives, He is a fashion statement that will never be considered out-of-date.
Blessings!
Yes, even after all these years, Jesus isn’t out-of-date. Thanks for sharing that truth, Martha!
The internal and external wardrobe makeovers have been on my mind a lot lately! Thanks for the encouragement. This reminded me of a Bible study I did years ago by Jennifer Rothschild – Me, Myself and Lies: A Thought Closet Makeover. Are you familiar with it? I wrote a post called Closet Speak on this topic if anyone’s interested: https://myplacetoyours.com/2012/06/closet-speak.html
No, I haven’t heard of that study, Susan, but it sounds like a great one. Thanks for sharing about it and also sharing your post. I read it and it’s very pertinent to what we’re saying here! It makes me want to go grab Jennifer’s study. :)
Yes!!! I love this post, Lisa. I have some clothes in an unused closet that I don’t wear anymore because they are not flattering on me but I can’t seem to throw them out. Now I realize, holding on to them is weighing me down, just like holding on to “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk ” does. We need to reflect God’s goodness and love. Unflattering clothes and emotions that make us feel bad about ourselves and others dims the Light in us.
I use that trick too, Laurie. :) I put clothes in the unused closet that was our daughter’s, and after awhile, if I haven’t pulled the clothes back out, I feel safer about giving them away. I don’t know why I’m so reluctant to let go of things I don’t wear or even like. May the Lord keep convicting my heart to get rid of stuff much quicker that doesn’t fit Him well.
Great analogy, Lisa!
It’s time to get rid of that stuff lurking in the back!
You’d think that stuff in the back would be the first to go, but I tend to hold on to that too. I need to go peek in the back of my closet right now and get rid of a few things. And continue doing it in the back part of my heart too! Thanks, Jerralea.
So true that we often hang on to clothes that don’t fit any longer in hopes we will lose weight. I have quite a few things that don’t look flattering any longer but I am sad to let go. What I do is put them in a donate bag and then when I realize I have not missed them all season they are easier to let go.
Change is constant and change can be very good if we embrace it and make the best of it. Letting go of anger and malice and despair in our lives is also freeing!
Isn’t it funny how we do. I’m not sure why I hold on to all the things I do. But yes, it is freeing when we let them go, both the material things and the spiritual things that hold us back. Thanks for sharing this, Pat!
In my tiny house closet? ONLY clothes I wear.
I admire that you make your tiny house work so efficiently, Susan! Living with less can really help us learn what is valuable and what isn’t.
I like the idea that our new clothes always fit us and just right. No weight to lose or occasion to wait for before we wear them. This was so cute.
I laughed at myself today; after running errands in my “good” blue jeans, I couldn’t wait to get home and put my comfy sweatpants back on. ;) I wonder what the spiritual equivalent is of that….
I love this analogy, Lisa. We have a multitude of choices in how we live our lives … practically and spiritually, too. Thanks for taking us there!
And often those choices are more connected than we realize, yes? My reluctance to let go of unused stuff in my physical closet might reflect poorly on my abandon to God’s provision. Hmm…
Super analogy, Lisa! Both encouraging,(who doesn’t want clothes that fit perfectly?) and convicting, (imagine how bad I look when my mouth gets out of control). I love this passage in Colossians, and the reminder, “We are renewed because of who Jesus is, not because of who we are.” Thank you!
Some of my clothes don’t fit as well as the end of this year as they did at the beginning. ;) Same with my spiritual wardrobe; I’ve needed to upgrade to dress more appropriately for the trials of 2020. The Lord is still working on my closet.
Lisa, what wonderful metaphors you have used here! This post is a wonderful lesson and I’m grateful you shared it with the Hearth and Soul Link Party Community.
Thanks, April. There are so many wonderful take-aways in Colossians 3! I appreciate all you do to provide a safe community for us to share in.